1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for curing patterns of a substance at a surface of a foil. The present invention further relates to a method for curing patterns of a substance at a surface of a foil.
2. Related Art
Substances, such as conductive inks, on flexible substrates like PEN and PET are often difficult to cure/sinter because of their relatively high curing temperature, which is often not compatible with polymeric substrates. As a result, it is difficult to find a method that effectively (good conductivity, fast, cheap, and large area compatible) cures wet ink lines into conductive tracks without deforming the polymeric substrate.
WO2006/071419 describes a photonic curing system, wherein a substrate provided with a metallic nano-ink is guided by a conveyor belt below a strobe head. Nano-ink comprises a dispersion of nanometer sized metal particles in oil or water. The metal used for these particles is usually silver as it is highly conductive and does not oxidize readily, but also other metals like copper are possible. By using nanometer-sized particles a high resolution of the conductive pattern to be formed can be achieved. The strobe head comprises a photon emission source, such as a xenon flash lamp. It is noted that JP2000117960 describes an inkjet printing method and apparatus. FIG. 2 thereof shows an apparatus, wherein a foil provided with a printed ink-layer is carried between a first and a second light source, each having a reflector. JP2000117960 does not specify how the reflectors map the light emitted by the light sources.
It is desired to improve the efficiency of the apparatus so that a higher throughput is possible without increasing the power of the lamp.